Spalding Hoophall Classic to tip-off Friday

Austin Rivers, who has committed to Duke, played at the Spalding Hoophall Classic last season. (Submitted photo)

SPRINGFIELD – Another January brings another jaw-dropping lineup for the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Forty-six boys and girls high school basketball teams, some from the region and others from the far reaches of the country, will play at the 10th annual event Friday-Jan. 17 at Springfield College.

Greg Procino and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame have again put together a lineup that can’t be matched by any other high school basketball tournament in the United States.

“I think the field is very deep,” said Procino, Manager of Events and Awards at the Hall of Fame. “It offers something for everybody. We have our share of elite players; we have our share of elite teams; we have our share of good regional teams; we have good local teams; we have a good girls angle this year. So I think it’s a well-rounded, complete field.”

Complete with talent, that is. A large handful of the best national boys teams and players will be competing at the birthplace of basketball, with dozens upon dozens of college coaches expected to be in attendance to watch and recruit.

As has been the case the last few years, ESPN will be on site, with the largest sports television network in the world set to air six games, including the matchup between St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J., and DeMatha Catholic of Hyattsville, Md., Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN. The other five games will be televised on ESPNU.

St. Anthony is coached by Bob Hurley, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in August. Morgan Wooten, who coached DeMatha and is slated to be at the game, was inducted into the Hall in 2000.

“The interest in the television helps justify the quality of the event, especially at the high school level where there aren’t a lot of games on TV,” Procino said. “For us to have six of the 14 regular season games on ESPN shows commitment by us as a quality event and commitment by ESPN to consider us a good event. It also means we’re producing the best games available in one setting.

“I think what’s made this a great tournament is we’re putting everyone on the same floor and same platform. I think that’s driven us locally, but when you get outside to ESPN and the national media, to have all these teams on the same floor on the same weekend has elevated the people and the game.”

For college basketball junkies, the Hoophall serves as a sneak preview. Elite players expected to go to such college basketball powers as Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Villanova, Syracuse, Georgetown, Texas, Arizona, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Xavier and Ohio State, just to name a few, will play at this year’s venue.

In the ESPN Rise rankings, Oak Hill of Mouth of Wilson, Va., St. Patrick of Elizabeth, N.J., St. Anthony, and Findlay Prep of Hendersonville, Nev., own the top four spots. DeMatha, Milton of Alpharetta, Ga., and Dallas-Lincoln are rated in the top 15.

And as usual, the Hoophall offers some interesting nuggets. Boys & Girls High School of Brooklyn is coached by a female, Ruth Lovelace; Anthony Davis of Perspectives Charter in Illinois shot up 6 inches and is now committed to play for John Calipari at Kentucky; the Mater Dei girls are led by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who’s set to play next season at UConn and is regarded the best female player in the country; Tony Wroten of Seattle-Garfield is cousins with Nate Robinson, guard for the Boston Celtics; Nick Johnson of Findlay is the nephew of former Celtic great Dennis Johnson, who was enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 2010; and Andre Drummond, the No. 1 ranked player in the junior class, grew up in Hartford and is attending St. Thomas More of Oakdale, Conn.